Evidently the 9-7 will do better than I thought...<p><br>From Edmunds.com:<p>"DETROIT  Saab dealers have been taking deposits for the company's first SUV, the 9-7X, a phenomenon that hasn't happened to the Swedish brand "in decades," according to Jay Spenchian, Saab USA general manager. <p>The 9-7X goes on sale later this spring. <p>In an April speech titled "The State of Saab," Spenchian said 5,000 people have signed up for a pre-sell offer on the 9-7X that includes three years of free XM Radio and the OnStar communications system. <p>"Through our Web site and dealer channels, we already received twice as many hand-raisers as for our previously best ever in that regard, our Saab icon, the 9-3 convertible," he said, referring to potential customers who have indicated an interest in the new SUV. <p>Spenchian said Saab will expand the 9-3 lineup with a new body style called the SportCombi. The SportCombi is based on the 2004 Sport Hatch concept car. The GM brand will also introduce a new 250-horsepower turbocharged V6 power plant across the entire 9-3 family, Spenchian confirmed. <p>Plans are also in the works for a "thoroughly revised 9-5," he said. <p>What this means to you: Business Week may be urging GM to dump Saab, but things seem to be cooking at the Swedish brand. There's really nowhere to go but up  or out of business."

Hornbag

04-30-2005, 04:23 AM

Looks like GM's quick fix is actaully working! Good news then, from a sales perspective...<p>Is the 9-2X on sale yet? If so how well is it going?

mzoltarp

04-30-2005, 05:34 AM

If the 97X is a sales success Saab may have a chance. If the 97X increases brand awareness and IF Saab can follow it with compelling new vehicles, then Saab will not die. Why anyone would buy a Trailblazer/Ranier/Envoy/Ascender when the 97X is drop dead gorgeous is a mystery to me. If I wanted a Trailblazer, I'd buy the Saab version certainly.

DoMiNo

04-30-2005, 10:04 AM

True... of the variants (except for the late Bravada, which I really thought was a great looking truck) the Saab is the best looking. <p>Let's hope people warm to the Sportcombi, too!! I would love to see some new, REAL Saabs sometime soon.

Naga Royal Guard

04-30-2005, 02:42 PM

i hope saab gets a version of the new suburban to compliment their midsize 9-7

<IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.germancarfans.com/images/forums/laugh2.gif" BORDER="0"> <p>So 500 orders of a Saabized GM product, and a gas sucking truck at that is going to save the company <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.germancarfans.com/images/forums/nixweiss.gif" BORDER="0"> <p>As a long time SAAB fan and previous owner I say I doubt it. GM ran SAAB into the ground. They took away much of what was SAAB.<p>Now if they had done or start to do as Volvo and Ford have done, there might be a chance. <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.germancarfans.com/images/forums/crying.gif" BORDER="0">

DoMiNo

05-01-2005, 07:21 PM

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD><i>Quote, originally posted by <b>Shomare</b> &raquo;</i></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.germancarfans.com/images/forums/laugh2.gif" BORDER="0"> <p>So 500 orders of a Saabized GM product, and a gas sucking truck at that is going to save the company <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.germancarfans.com/images/forums/nixweiss.gif" BORDER="0"> <p>As a long time SAAB fan and previous owner I say I doubt it. GM ran SAAB into the ground. They took away much of what was SAAB.<p>Now if they had done or start to do as Volvo and Ford have done, there might be a chance. <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.germancarfans.com/images/forums/crying.gif" BORDER="0"> </TD></TR></TABLE><p>If by 500 you mean 5000. It's more than Saab <I>would</I> be selling. And why blame GM for ruining Saab when, from what I understand, it wasn't in the hottest shape before GM bought it anyway? GM's doing all it can; Saab fans should be grateful they didn't just can the whole brand.

zwei Biere bitte

05-02-2005, 09:09 PM

The Saab 9-2X is doing pretty poorly I think... I'll be lucky to see one every few weeks (Compared with plenty of new Volvo S40/V50s and Imprezas), and I saw an ad in the paper a few weeks ago touting like $3000 off MSRP on all 9-2Xs. <p>I hope this is the last rebaged vehicle that Saab ever sells. I'm honestly sick of watching the brand die an early death, although it seems it may have a temporary savior.

Nick

05-03-2005, 01:29 AM

I find it funny how people say GM is killing Saab...up until recently with the 9-2x and the 9-7 GM has really never touched Saab...I like the 9-7 personally, it has more Saab in it than people think...

Hornbag

05-03-2005, 03:52 AM

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD><i>Quote, originally posted by <b>zwei Biere bitte</b> &raquo;</i></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"><br>I hope this is the last rebaged vehicle that Saab ever sells. </TD></TR></TABLE><p>Sorry, but the B9 Tribeca (sp) was reported by WHEELS to be converted into a Saabaru. Also Saab had a fair bit to do with the devolopment of this vehicle...so i supose it doesnt end with the 9-7 and 9-2...It will be called a 9-6X if i remember correctly<p>And Nick, i also agree that the 9-7 is a pretty good vehicle, as i have said b4 i was amazed when i was shown the inside! Its very Saab like, and they have done a good enough job of the out side, i wonder if it drives like a Saab?

AXLE

05-03-2005, 05:06 AM

GM is crap and has been crap since the late 80s. Its too far gone now to change. Ford is the best out all of the domestics (america), in quality, style and overall value. To justify my comments my dad is a mechanic who has worked with american and australian Gm products as well as american and australian fords not to mention Chryslers, toyotas, hondas, volvos, audis and many others. He knows first hand with over 20 years experience. We used to own a loaded black 1987 saab 900S sedan in the USA prior to moving to the hell hole which is Adelaide, South Australia and it was one of the best cars we have ever owned. What GM is doing to saab is disgusting. An SUV??? Id rather have a gun pointed at my head and have somebody pull the trigger than even consider ever purchasing one of these POS.

Hornbag

05-03-2005, 06:53 AM

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD><i>Quote, originally posted by <b>AXLE</b> &raquo;</i></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ford is the best out all of the domestics (america), in quality, style and overall value. </TD></TR></TABLE><p> <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.germancarfans.com/images/forums/biggrin.gif" BORDER="0"> Im not going to argue with that <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.germancarfans.com/images/forums/bow.gif" BORDER="0"> well said AXLE!

DoMiNo

05-03-2005, 11:03 AM

Yeah but it's wrong to pin these problems all on GM. You see, if Saab was selling cars to begin with then GM could justify putting real funds into developing bona fide Saabs. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. Saab has never sold a lot of cars, and with an aging model lineup they were in pretty rough shape until GM bought them up and they had the means to develop the new 9-3... which I don't see anybody bashing for not being "Saab" enough. Since THAT didn't do the trick, GM had to take some quick (albeit half-assed) measures to ensure that the brand didn't flounder completely. If the 9-2, 9-7, and any other platform sharing vehicles HELP Saab, then it may be possible to put some real money into Saab. But it's foolish to think that Saab's "decline" was entirely GM's fault, when in fact the General is probably the only reason the brand is still around. And think about it.... <I>how</I> many cars does Saab sell per year? Not very many, and even with a bunch of brand new all-Saab models that wouldn't change. So with GM already so damn deep in the red, you can't blame them for putting Saab on the backburner at the moment. They've got bigger fish to fry.

CalinG7

05-03-2005, 01:59 PM

I agree, DoMiNo. If Saab were in good shape in the first place, they wouldn't have put themselves up for sale back in the 80s. Fact is, they saw they couldn't compete with BMWs and Audis, so they found someone with deep pockets to bail them out. Since then, Saab has had lost money every single year except for one, which means GM has been generously and patiently giving them tens and hundreds of millions of dollars every year to develop those "quircky" cars that many love, but few buy. <p>Until, what, about one or two years ago, GM only owned 50% of Saab anyway. Saab had a pretty free hand to run things the way they wanted (inefficiently), while they got the benefit of a huge parts bin, and the aforementioned deep pockets. <p>Those pockets aren't that deep anymore, Saab couldn't or wasn't willing to produce cars that more people would want to buy, and they just relied on GM to bail them out year after year. That can't happen anymore, so things are changing. It's not the best situation, but it has to be done.

boston

05-03-2005, 03:38 PM

taking deposits for a chevy trailblazer....guess theres a sucker born every minute.....

Shomare

05-03-2005, 08:16 PM

From the 80's on 86-90's Saab was doing very well and reporting record sales.<p>Then, they were purchased by GM and the rest is history.<p>Instead of being inovative they rested on what they had done. While other companies began offering similar or better equiped cars, Saab did not evolve and as such, they are in trouble.

zwei Biere bitte

05-03-2005, 09:12 PM

I'm actually OK with the 9-3 and a SUV based on the Tribeca that has been "Saabified" (Like the difference between the Mazda 3 and Volvo S40). It's just how GM slapped on a Saab badge onto a Subaru... I bet GM is making a ton of money off of it though considering that it costs upwards of $3,000 over a comparable Impreza. <p>Also, didn't GM buy part of Saab back in the early 1990's? I mean, why not start planning new cars back then, and not leave the brand on the back burner until the last possible minute.

CalinG7

05-04-2005, 11:39 AM

I'm tempted to think GM felt they would get a lot out of Saab because it was so hot with yuppies in the late 80s. They thought they wouldn't have to do much or pay much attention, just leave their factory in place, their management, their engineering, and so on, and they would continue turning out hot cars. <p>Maybe Saab though GM would give them more direction. I don't know. But like I said before, Saab made money only one year since GM's owned them, maybe two, so they weren't doing so hot without GM either. A lot of the blame for their situation should lie with Saab management, which had 50% of the company and a great deal of autonomy.

AM2

05-09-2005, 04:12 AM

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD><i>Quote, originally posted by <b>Hornbag</b> &raquo;</i></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"><br>Sorry, but the B9 Tribeca (sp) was reported by WHEELS to be converted into a Saabaru. Also Saab had a fair bit to do with the devolopment of this vehicle...so i supose it doesnt end with the 9-7 and 9-2...It will be called a 9-6X if i remember correctly </TD></TR></TABLE><br>I read somewhere that there are some rumors Saab might get a version of the Theta SUV platform because it would be too expensive to re-engineer the Tribeca's platform to accept an Diesel engine (most likely with an inline cylinder configuration) which I think is being considered as an option in europe.